Following GPR (actually at GPR) our team started to brainstorm ways to make a quick turn around for Buckeye. So we went hard at work to make our robot able to shoot in the high hub, and the attempt was super successful. The team buckled down with long, intense prototyping and build sessions to adapt the robot to shoot higher. The mechanical and design team, programmers and drivers had to work together to make the last-minute modifications work. Our robot, Lightning McQueen, can now shoot cargo in the high hub nicely!
At Buckeye, even though we already secured a spot for Worlds at GPR, we still wanted to compete with the best at the regional and still do well. The first day of competition consisted of several practice matches that went decently, but rather it was a way for our drive team to adjust better to the changes to our robot. In fact sometimes the drivers picked up both red and blue balls for more shooting practice. Off the field, we hosted an informal FIRST Ladies meetup during lunch on Thursday where we met with members of teams 120, 578, and 4930! On Friday, our team’s Chairman’s Award interview took place at 9:40 am, then Somdatta and Aria represented Girls of Steel as Student Ambassadors at the VIP luncheon. And later that night we had an amazing team dinner of pizza and cupcakes!
“I loved being able to watch our hard work throughout the season being put to the test on and off the field. It was amazing to be able to talk to and learn from all of the teams there!”
Friday and Saturday were when the actual qualification matches took place. This time around, we went 6-3-0, won 6 matches and lost 3, which is a pretty good record, especially compared to 3-8-0 at GPR. Individually, as Girls of Steel, we scored a lot of points by shooting a good amount of cargo in the high hub, increasing our average from GPR, and by hanging on the mid-bar. Also, the drive team did amazing with adapting to the alterations to the robot. To see this drastic improvement, was awesome and motivates us to make any improvements for Worlds.
“My favorite part of the competition was getting to see our robot compete and do what we intended it to do. We worked really hard to get it to the point it was at and I was happy to see all our hard work pay off.”
We did so well, that we ranked 19th out of 59 teams at the regional, and we were picked for the #7 alliance, along with team 1317 Digital Fusion and 1559 Devil Tech. Even though our alliance lost both quarterfinal matches, it was amazing to watch and thrilling to know we got picked for an alliance.
The biggest news is that we won the Buckeye Regional Chairman’s Award! This award is the most prestigious award in FIRST and is such an honor to receive. Our Chairman’s crew worked so hard on their presentation and delivered it with ease and professionalism. The team is so proud of them and so grateful for this.
“Receiving the Chairman’s Award at Buckeye shows that we are headed in the right direction and have a great foundation to build upon even further.”
We are ecstatic from winning Chairman’s, and are looking forward to advancing our robot so it can function to the highest ability at Worlds in Houston. Come back soon to read about our experiences at the FIRST World Championship April 20-23, 2022.
photo credit: featured image taken by Bob Weekley, Buckeye photographer.
